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Vote for Mrs Whittemore and get WPI 10 thousand dollars!!!

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
Help nominate Annette Whittemore for SELF Magazine's Women Doing Good contest. SELF is looking for extraordinary women who make a difference and work tirelessly so others may live better lives. That woman could be you or someone you know woman driven by compassion, who truly strives to improve her community, the environment or the world around her. The contest ends March 30th so please vote now. The award is $10,000 for the WPI. Click on the link below to vote.

Link to Self Magazine contest is http://selfconnected.com/winit_womendoinggood_01.asp

Of note you need to be American to vote, so I urge all my fellow american to go to the link and vote for Annette Whittemore.
 

julius

Watchoo lookin' at?
Messages
785
Location
Canada
It looks like you need to know all her personal details like birth date, address etc. Anybody know it?

I can't vote, but whoever does will need that info.
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
Apparently some people didn't enter her birthdate and address but attached WPI's web address (www.wpinstitute.org)

I can't vote either so let me know how it goes.
 

spindrift

Plays With Voodoo Dollies
Messages
286
Done! It would be nice to know how many others nominate her.

If she wins it will also be great publicity for CFS/ME.
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
Spin, pass on the message to family and friends, we have to give it all we can, last time we voted for something we lost a chance at 25 grands for WPI by 700 votes...
 

julius

Watchoo lookin' at?
Messages
785
Location
Canada
I'm not sure of the terminology, but I think it's sticky or bump or something. When you have a thread so it stays at the top of the list. How do you do that? I guess you have to ask an admin right?

This would be a great thing for her to win. I think it's pretty important.
 

muffin

Senior Member
Messages
940
Just voted for her. I put her birthdate as 1/1/1951. I got the rest of the info off the WPI website. Messing up her birthdate would not be a big deal I don't think. Look what the winner gets:

Winner will receive the following honors:
•$10,000 donation to her charity of choice
•Feature in the September issue of SELF Magazine
•Trip to New York City to attend the Women Doing Good Awards Ceremony
 

creekfeet

Sockfeet
Messages
553
Location
Eastern High Sierra
Nominating Mrs. Whittemore for this is a great idea, BUT!

It might not be good for us to flood them with a flurry of nominations. This is not a simple vote but nominations for a judged contest. The form asks for a written essay of no more than 500 words telling about the nominee.

Probably a few well-worded and well-informed nominations are better than a slew of them.

Contest Rules said:
4. WINNER SELECTION AND NOTIFICATION. All entries will be judged on or about April 15, 2010 (the "Judging Date") by a panel of judges comprised of five SELF employees and/or celebrity guests who oversee and support the 2010 Women Doing Good initiative. The judges will score entries based on the following criteria: Commitment to Others (33.3%), Ingenuity (33.3%), and Successfulness of execution (33.4%). The entry with highest overall score will be declared the potential winner (in the event of a tie, the entry with the higher score in the Commitment to Others criteria will prevail).

I think people who know a lot about Annette Whittemore and WPI, and can write powerful essays, should nominate her. The essays should emphasize the points being judged: Commitment to Others, Ingenuity, Successfulness of Execution. Excellence of nominations will probably do more for us than sheer volume would.
 

Frickly

Senior Member
Messages
1,049
Location
Texas
http://wpinstitute.org/about/about_execboard.html Annette Whittemore's profile on WPI with picture (I just provided this link instead of trying to figure out how to find and upload a pic}

The following is from the "contact us" on WPI. I used the research center's address and the media email. I didn't put her birth date but don't think it it will be a big deal if they get lots of submissions.

Administrative Offices:
6600 N Wingfield Pkwy
Sparks, NV 89436
(775) 348-2335
info@wpinstitute.org

Research Center:
ARF RM320/MS199
University of Nevada, Reno
1664 N. Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89557

Media Inquiries:
Jamii Uboldi
(775) 240-2820
Jamii.Uboldi@rrpartners.com
 

spindrift

Plays With Voodoo Dollies
Messages
286
We have so many eloquent people on this forum, I am sure we can come up with great essays.
So please everyone nominate!
 

Hope123

Senior Member
Messages
1,266
I'm too tired to write an essay right now but may I suggest a few point:

- Who are past winners and past essays? This would give us a good idea of what to aim for.

- Think about SELF's readership: young to middle-aged professional women who are active; I would appeal to the fact that CFS is a issue that affects many women in this demographic and stops them in their tracks. Not uncommon at all - prevalence of 0.422% (conservative estimate) means 1 in about 250 people affected, more than MS/ lung cancer/ breast cancer/ lupus.

- Re: women's health issues: talk about lack of known etiology/ diagnostic test/ treatment/ doubt by medical community - historically a problem with women's health issues being labelled "psychological"; disability

- Ms. W.'s work doesn't just affect US, it's international

- Something about how her efforts led to creation of center at University of Reno (the only research center focused on CFS in the country), generated a $1.6 million grant from National Institutes of Health, and influenced the feds and the international scientific community to re-focus its efforts on CFS

- throw in there that she is a mom to a sick daughter

- Can someone post this on WPI Facebook? The staff there might be able to put together a nom with patient help.

- I don't think it hurts for several people to nominate her. At worst, they'll have to wonder about this extraordinary lady who is so admired by many. So I say to the non-US people here - go for it unless the website rejects you.

Maybe Usedtobeperkytina can help write since she has experience with the press.
 

creekfeet

Sockfeet
Messages
553
Location
Eastern High Sierra
Great ideas and points, Hope123. I didn't mean to be a wet blanket on this at all. Definitely nominate, but do so with all the info in place and well-targeted. You said it better.

The WPI FB page got a tad spammy for a couple days there. Maybe best would be to email the info to someone at WPI?
 

frenchtulip

Senior Member
Messages
760
Self's contest

I nominated a fantastic female from the CFS "community" a couple of years ago. All summer long I tweaked my essay, carefully observing the 500-word limit and then submitted it. The person I nominated is gainfully employed in the CFS field but does far more than is necessary for her position. When I finally found the winning essays, all the women were "volunteers." So it seems that those who serve in a "volunteer" capacity are preferred. Of the five winning essays, one or two were brief and to the point. Writing style did not seem to be of paramount importance. What the women were doing to help their communities mattered.
 

starryeyes

Senior Member
Messages
1,558
Location
Bay Area, California
Thanks for working so hard on that frenchtulip, for all of us. By sharing this you're helping us realize that maybe it is more numbers than prose that Self is looking for in nominations. It's quick and easy to do if you don't spend much time writing an essay. I just explained that due to CFS I was too brainfogged to do that but requested Annette Whittemore as my nominee.